Community Outreach

Mayor's Annual Spring Cleanup 2013Saturday April 20, 2013

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L-R: Mentor Craig Pinkney, Student Leon Flemming (senior), student Darius Chase (Junior) and Mentor Chris Clary. They are getting ready to board the bulk cargo ship Athina L to observe ship loading operations for the first time and job shadow a Loading Foreman. Not pictured due to other school commitments are Freshman Jason Grubbs and Senior Franklin Allen.

CSX Mentoring Partnership with Ben Franklin High

CSX Curtis Bay Coal Pier has formed a mentoring partnership with Ben Franklin High School. Two CSX employees, Chris Clary and Craig Pinkney, meet with four students for two hours every Friday. The goal of the program is to get these kids to finish high school. The mentors have developed a good bonds with the kids and our mentors have had similar life experiences to the kids they are mentoring. These mentors are leaders at the Pier and have raised their own successful children in the Baltimore Public School system. The mentors are able to give the kids good practical advice on their problems. They also attempt to teach the value of a career versus a job to the kids and attempt to teach the kids the things the things they need to do to prepare themselves for a career. Another goal of the program is to expose them to the career opportunities available at CSX and to teach the kids how they need to conduct themselves in a work environment.

The mentoring started November 2011. During November, December and January the Mentors met the kids at School just talked with them to get to know them and taught them basic CSX safety rules. In February, the program has moved to the Curtis Bay Coal Pier and the students have toured the facility and been exposed to ore loading, coal dumping and ship loading operations and have seen the work that the various crafts at the coal pier perform. In the coming months we plan to have the students job shadow different crafts and some of the managers at the pier and also teach them a few very basic skills and show them how to operate basic equipment.

Clean Up

On Friday, March 23, 2012, the SBBA partnered with Ben Franklin High School on a clean up program. Ben Franklin High School adopted a vacant lot near Pontiac between 8th and 9th streets from the city that was littered with trash and debris.

Mayor's Annual Spring Clean Up

On Saturday April 21, 2012, approximately 13 students and 2 coaches from Benjamin Franklin High School teamed up with members of the the SBBA for the annual Mayor’s Spring Clean Up initiative. In appreciation of their time, SBBA donated $750.00 each to the Ben Franklin Baseball and Softball teams.